The men of the year

The winning performances in the inaugural edition of the Cricinfo Awards

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Virender Sehwag, Dale Steyn, Sanath Jayasuriya and Ajantha Mendis are the winners of the Cricinfo Awards for 2008.

The Cricinfo Awards comprise two unique sets of awards - one subjective, voted on by a jury, the other based on numbers. The nominees were announced in the first week of January.

The Jury Awards

The Jury Awards pay tribute to the best individual performances in Tests and ODIs during calendar year 2008. (Twenty20 was not included this year, since there were not many internationals played.) Cricinfo's expert panel - comprising some of the world's most discerning observers of the game, including Cricinfo's own leading cricket writers - voted on shortlists compiled by the site's editorial staff.

Part two, the Statsguru Awards, is based on hard data. Going beyond the usual look at runs scored, wickets taken, or batting average, the Statsguru Awards are the result of detailed data analyses of performances in 2008.

Which batsman played more consistently than any other over the entire year? Who got the highest percentage of his runs in boundaries? Who was the best bowler in the third and fourth innings? Cricinfo's ball-by-ball data analysis of every international game has answers to these queries and more. The Statsguru Awards are based on these stats. The results originate from quantitative analyses of performance throughout the year, which makes these awards definitive and distinctive.